Chapter 51

“You..you…!” Luo Ke could not help but take a few steps back after hearing Huang Xue’s whispers.

Just how...was his identity exposed to this Shen third young master?!

Back in the Grand Valley Tomb, Luo Ke knew that he had covered his track completely using the bagua mirror. His face was even still covered with a black cloth, obscuring his image. Besides exposing his Six Ocean Sect uniform, there was no other way that Huang Xue could have traced the murder of Yang Chen back to him!

In fact, this meeting between Luo Ke and Huang Xue could be said to be the first one that’s done in a face-to-face fashion.

Huang Xue merely smiled as he replied in a calm voice. “No need to panic. I promise that I mean you no harm. As for how I found out your identity, that is a secret so I cannot tell you. However, just know that your little ‘deed’ is a favorable thing for me, so I will not pursue you. Rest assure and take the pill, it will be of great use to you. In the future, let us meet more often.”

Then, without any further words, Huang Xue turned and left towards another area. Several young cultivators walked up to express their gratitude to Huang Xue, which the latter lightly responded while continuing on.

As Luo Ke watched Huang Xue walk away, his mind once again entered a confused state; only this time, it was filled with utter chaos and doubts. To say the least, Luo Ke was finding himself being able to understand lesser and lesser about this third young master from the Shen clan.

From the previous image of an arrogant and vain young master, Huang Xue had transformed into someone who was filled with mystery in Luo Ke’s mind. Was this kind of person truly someone who only acts without thinking? Was his previous relationship with that Yang Chen all an act? If so, for what purpose? Just...what was going on?!

Huang Xue’s department only left Luo Ke with more doubts and mysteries than comfort. And if Luo Ke was still able to see Huang Xue at this moment, he could have seen the sly smile that was plastered on the latter’s face!

“With this act...that child should buy it right?” Huang Xue thought to himself as he walked around among the large confused crowd of cultivators that was slowly dispersing overtime.

Naturally, Huang Xue’s previous conversation with Luo Ke was all made up. Huang Xue had purposefully made it seem as if he had underlying motives when he made friends with Yang Chen; creating the idea that his relationship with Yang Chen was merely an act, in order to achieve his unsaid goal.

Though in all honesty, despite having lived a great deal previously, Huang Xue was not someone who was overly adept at schemes. This crude story and act were something he had thought of on the spot in order to quickly deal with the situation.

After all, leaving alone misunderstandings will only cause them to grow overtime.

Given Huang Xue’s interactions with Yang Chen for the past months, Huang Xue himself knew of the latter’s overbearing and arrogant behavior. It was almost positive that Huang Xue did not leave a good impression on Luo Ke being associated with such a hooligan.

Therefore, Huang Xue had wanted to the create a mysterious image in the child’s mind; acting as if he had only befriended Yang Chen with ulterior moves, disassociating himself from the adjectives of arrogance, cruelty, mindlessness and so forth!

This way, it may even bring forth a better impression on Luo Ke, allowing Huang Xue to slowly edge closer to his destined one. This will make it easier for Huang Xue to guide Luo Ke in the future.

As for accepting Luo Ke as disciple? Huang Xue had partially put aside that thought for now.

After all that has happened, Huang Xue knew that taking Luo Ke as his disciple can wait. More investigations and details were needed first!

“Crap, I should’ve given that child more protective items so he won’t die that easily! Huang Xue suddenly thought as his eyes twitched. Although it was necessary to hone oneself through life and death battles, sometimes accidents or deep schemes do occur. There should be some steps taken to avoid getting swept up in them.

Most importantly, Huang Xue wanted Luo Ke to become strong as quickly as possible. From the previous encounter with Luo Ke inside the Grand Valley Tomb, Huang Xue had already noticed the thick Qi essence in from the latter’s body. And for him to possess a divine artifact and even able to use certain features meant Luo Ke’s luck and talent was not weak. What he lacked and needed the most were merely two things: time and abundant resources!

After all, in some sense, time was of essence; especially for the current Huang Xue.

One thousand years may sound long, but in Huang Xue’s opinion, it was too short. There was a sense of urgency and stress in his heart.

Huang Xue immediately turned around and returned to the original place where he had left Luo Ke. Only, the figure of the battered youth was nowhere to be seen there anymore.

“He…” Huang Xue helplessly scanned his surrounding only to notice that Luo Ke’s aura could not be detected at all. One has to admit, this concealment ability is truly shocking. Not even a god’s divine sense, despite severely damaged, could detect the person. This child’s artifact….

***

A few miles away, south of the collapsed Grand Valley Tomb location.

Among the lush forests, the space between the air twisted briefly as a tattered clothed figure appeared. However, despite his poor appearance, there was no injuries to be seen on the youth’s body. In fact, there was even a healthy glow on his complexion.

After taking the golden pil given by Huang Xue, Luo Ke had immediately felt his internal injuries being healed at a rapid rate. It was such that even after he recovered, he could feel his dantian sea surging with energy. With the violent burst of energy, Luo Ke had to forcefully suppress his dantian sea as disbelief and delight covered his face.

The sudden outburst of Earthly Qi energy could only mean one thing: there was going to be a breaking through!

From Luo Ke’s previous estimate, to reach the next stage of Jie Hai, it would require at least a month with the help of the bagua mirror; but unexpectedly, the golden pill had instantly cut that time down completely, giving him the chance to go through another breakthrough!

The bagua mirror was also the reason why Luo Ke dared to consume the golden pill without fear of poison, despite Huang Xue’s assuring words. Nothing was absolutely certain after all. The reason why Luo Ke was confident that he would come out unharmed was because of the bagua mirror other odd property - the ability disperse extreme poisons!

On a chance situation, Luo Ke was once poisoned by Nightmare Viper when he was still at the 6th level of Temporal Di. He had been careless and was struck by the beast’s venomous fangs. Although the Nightmare Viper was quite weak, its venom was formidable, especially for those under the Jie Hai realm.

At that time, when Luo Ke fell into a perilous situation due to the paralyzing nature of the poison along with its toxic properties, the bagua mirror had shone with a green light that quickly dispersed the poison within his body. If not, then according the descriptions of the Nightmare Viper’s poison, if one was left untreated, their body would begin to bloat until all their blood vessels and veins were destroyed before their body would explode. Turning into small chunks of meat, which the viper would then leisurely consume afterwards!

After the incident, Luo Ke had daringly tried the Bagua Mirror’s ability on several poisons, only to discover that there were practically no poison it could not treat. Although there were more formidable poisons out there, Luo Ke believed that as long as his strength continue to grow, he would be able to use the bagua mirror more efficiently; perhaps at that time, the poison-curing property could possibly be enhanced to treat higher poisons! Thus, he had deep faith in the Bagua Mirror’s ability.

As Luo Ke traveled through the dense forest, the only thought in his mind right now was to quickly leave this area. To him, it felt anything but safe. He needed time to recuperate and think through the everything.

At this moment, a soft “Eh?” rang out through the calm forest.

Luo Ke tilted his head to the left when he heard the sound. To his left, he could see several people gathered there. Among them, two particular youths caught his eyes and caused his expression to turn grim.

He recognized the two young men. The one standing on the left with gray robe, was none other than Hei Yuan of the Fierce Dragon clan. The muscular youth wearing a dark blue robe beside the former was the young lord of the Winged Moon Faction, Kui Tian.

These were the same people who had been wanting to kill Luo Ke for the past several days.

Judging from the surprised expressions of the two young men, it did not seem to Luo Ke that they had been following him; especially since he had been using the concealing ability of the mirror. Instead, it seemed to be an encounter of chance.

“Damn! Why the hell did I have to run into these fellas now?” Luo Ke cursed in his mind. While his injuries were healed, there was still a sense of weakness and fatigue weighing down on Luo Ke. Moreover, he still needed to calm down his Dantian Sea, which was currently raging within him. It was not a suitable time for him to battle…

After a while, Kui Tian was the first to break the silence with his atrocious laughter.

“Ha..haha! Hahaha! Look, I was right! I knew that bastard could not run that far!”

He was also the same person who had uttered the “Eh?” when he discovered Luo Ke.

Hei Yuan recovered as well while an insidious smile bloomed on his face. In a slightly hoarse, grainy voice that did not match his age:

“Seems like it was the right choice to dispatch our men to search the surrounding areas...keke, we actually managed to catch prey!”

Luo Ke’s face turned dark as he heard the unpleasant words from the two youth’s mouth.

“Damn brat, do not resist and follow us back obediently! You have killed many of our brothers, so do not think you’ll be able to escape the wrath of our clans! If you cooperate, perhaps we can give you a painless death later.” Kui Tian sneered as he walked closer to Luo Ke.

At the same time, the group of men standing behind the Kui Tian and Hei Yuan spread out and formed a wide circle around Luo Ke. The escape routes were blocked.

Luo Ke glared at Kui Tian as he sneered: “Since it has come to this, why do you still have to say so much bullsh*t? If you have the ability, try and see if you can keep me here!”